Chicago, Ill. – The Stony Brook volleyball team will begin the 2014 season, the second under head coach Coley Pawlikowski, at the DePaul Invite. The Seawolves play their first match against DePaul Friday at 8 p.m. and take on Hampton University and Bradley Saturday at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively.

Follow Along

Live Stats will be available for all three matches via DePaul’s Gametracker, and fans can watch a live stream of Stony Brook’s season opener Friday. Score updates will be posted periodically on the Stony Brook Athletics Twitter feed @SBAthletics.

Preseason Quick Hits

Stony Brook returns 10 letterwinners and six starters from last year’s team that reached the America East Semifinals.

America East Second Team middle blocker Stephanie McFadden returns to the court for her junior season after breaking the single-season Division I school block assist record last year.

Redshirt senior Evann Slaughter, a two-time all-conference middle blocker, is back after missing last season with a torn ACL. Slaughter has led Stony Brook and finished in the top ten in the America East in blocks in all three of her seasons.

The Seawolves, which finished in a three-way tie for second in the regular season conference standings, were picked third in the America East Preseason Poll. The ranking is tied for the highest in program history with the 2006 team.

Homecoming

The trip will be a homecoming for Coley Pawlikowski, an Illinois native who played and coached at Northern Illinois University. Junior Kathy Fletcher (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago HS) and freshman Abby Hickey (Dekalb, Ill./Ellicotville HS) will also be playing in front of family and friends this weekend.

Series History vs. Opponents

The Seawolves have never played DePaul, Hampton and Bradley during their Division I era.

Scouting DePaul

DePaul returns six letterwinners and three starters from last year’s team that went 16-14. Junior outside hitter Callie Huebener ranked fourth on the Blue Demons with 179 kills and 49 blocks, and junior setter Colleen Smith was fifth in the BIG EAST with 10.19 helpers per set.

Scouting Hampton

Hampton is coming off its first-ever MEAC title and has six returners headlined by MEAC Preseason Player of the Year and senior rightside Vendula Strakova. Strakova led the nation in total points, averaging 6.51 per set, and was second in kills at 5.59 per set.

Scouting Bradley

The Braves welcome back 10 letterwinners and four starters from last year’s team which had the most victories (13) and highest Missouri Valley Conference win total (7) at Bradley since 2005. Junior outside hitter Jessie Tulacka averaged 2.31 kills per set in 2013 and is the team’s active career kills leader.

She’s Baaaaack

After missing 2013 with a torn ACL, Evann Slaughter has returned and looked fantastic in preseason. She led the team in blocks (88) and finished in the top ten in the America East in kills (274) and hitting percentage (.237) on her way to first-team all-conference honors in 2012. She also paced the Seawolves in blocks in 2011 (107) and 2010 (76) and was the 2010 America East Rookie of the Year.

Slaughter joined former teammate Kaitlin Costello ’14 in the Bring It Promotions European Global Challenge, where she played for Team USA. Recap her journey here.

Get Lo

A sparkplug and team leader, redshirt junior libero Lo Hathaway served as Stony Brook’s little-engine-that-could on defense last season. The Warsaw, N.Y., native surpassed the program’s all-time single-season digs record with 553 digs and finished first on the team, fifth in the league and fifth in program single-season history with 4.29 digs per set in 2013.

Seawolves Block Party

Last year, Stephanie McFadden led the team and was second in the league in blocks per set at 1.00, while senior middle blocker Taylor Gillie was second on the team and ninth in the conference at 0.78 stuffs per stanza.

Aces are Wild

Stony Brook finished 10th nationally in aces per set at 1.69 last season. Stephanie McFadden led the league at 0.43 aces per set.

Fresh Faces

Stony Brook welcomes six promising freshmen to the fold as the program continues to grow under Coley Pawlikowski. Click on the bio links below for more on the newest Seawolves.

A rising star in the collegiate volleyball coaching ranks and a tenacious recruiter of student-athletes, Pawlikowski is a three-time recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 award. She was hired on January 16, 2013.

In her first year at the helm, Pawlikowski guided to Seawolves back to the America East Championship and mentored a pair of all-conference picks in Kaitlin Costello (first team) and Stephanie McFadden (second team). Stony Brook consistently ranked near the top of the country in aces per set, finishing the year 10th at 1.69. The Seawolves are also excelling off the court under her watch and were honored with their first AVCA Team Academic Award.

A tenacious recruiter, Pawlikowski added six promising Seawolves to the roster in her first full recruiting class as she looks to build a championship program. She served as the defensive position coach at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers lead the Big Ten in digs per set as a team and boast the individual digs champion.

Pawlikowski previously worked as the top assistant coach for her alma mater, Northern Illinois, from 2009-12, where she helped guide the Huskies to a 2011 Mid-American Conference regular season title and an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next

Stony Brook makes the short trip to Hempstead, N.Y., to renew its rivalry with Hofstra Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be the first between the two teams since 2009.